I had a dream … it was about a dragon. It wasn’t scary, but it wasn’t pleasant either. The creature was certainly not Puff, the Magic Dragon. But what did all this mean?

Throughout history, dragons have symbolized power and depending on the culture, good or bad. Eastern culture has traditionally viewed dragons as wise and beneficial, good luck and a sign of a spiritual or personal quest. Western culture, on the other hand, has presented dragons as carriers of hardship and destruction, guardians of treasure, and representations of greed. So does regional symbolism apply to dreams?

What about biblical symbolism? In Revelation 12, we are told of a dream in which Satan takes the form of a red dragon. So are dragons evil?

In most explanations, across belief traditions, dragons almost always symbolize conflict; a major problem in your life that you will have to deal with. Being chased by a dragon is an anxious dream, similar to those in which you are standing in front of the classroom in your underwear. You might even find yourself being chased by a dragon in your underwear if something really worries you.

Winged dragons are often said to represent some kind of transcendence, knowledge. For example, if you dream of riding a dragon, you may experience some kind of spiritual change.

Perhaps the dragon of your dreams is standing in front of a cave, protecting its entrance. Numerous sources decipher that the cave is your subconscious and within that cave there is a treasure, which in turn is your true self. In this interpretation, fighting the dragon represents fighting your own fear regarding reaching and understanding your true self.

Dragons in dreams are also associated with power, fire, and passion. Some people believe that these creatures are representations of their sexual and emotional domains. However, it is also warned that these dreams are there to remind you to use self-control, which when not used can lead to all kinds of destruction.

Yet another explanation comes from Freud and Jung, who, as you may have guessed, attribute dragon dreams to a person’s “devouring” aspects of their mother or, if you are male, to your inability out of fear or misunderstanding to incorporate your feminine side. . in your personality.

So the next time you wake up with a start from a dream about a dragon, don’t turn on all the lights and hide under the covers. Instead, take a close look at the things that are happening in your life: conflicts and fears. Most of the time they are more difficult to deal with than fire-breathing creatures. That said, remember that your dream is sending you a message and that is that you can do it: you can face and kill your dragon.